Saudi Arabia lifts 35-year ban on commercial theaters

Live TV

In December 2017, Saudi Arabia lifted a 35-year ban on commercial theaters, and this past weekend the first movie screenings were opened to the public.

One of the first screenings was a double feature of The Emoji Movie and Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie. The movies were shown at a makeshift theatre in the city of Jeddah.

The ban in the 80s came as a result of "pressure from Islamists as Saudi society turned towards a particularly conservative form of religion that discouraged public entertainment and public mixing between men and women," new agencies reported.

Saudi Arabia's 32-year-old Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, pushed a number of reforms to help bring movie theatres to the country. The first permanent movie theatres in Saudi Arabia could open in March, and the aim is for 300 cinemas and 2,000 screens to be available by 2030. The Saudi Arabian film industry is expected to add $24 billion to the country's economy and create 30,000 jobs.